In Good Company: 10 Centennial Year Buddies

Did you know that we’re not the only ones turning 100 in 2016? Yep, we’ve got some great company to keep with some amazing organizations and things. Here are 10 things also turning 100 this year.

1. The United States National Park Serviceturns 100 on August 25, 2016. The NPS is celebrating their 100th year and you can visit any of the 59 National Parks to celebrate. CBS Sunday Morning’s Conor Knighton is “on the trail” providing profiles of many of these parks throughout the year. You can view one on Acadia National Park below.

2.Boeing is turning 100 on July 15, 2016 in Seattle, Washington. AND GUESS WHAT?! We’ll be visiting them during our trip to Seattle for Alumni Convention June 2-5, so make sure to add that to your itinerary.

3. The Pulitzer Prizes: These awards for “excellence in Journalism and the Arts” were created in 1916. View some of the stories, books, music and photographs that have won this most prestigious award throughout the last 100 years.

4. The Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA): The PGA of America was founded on April 10 in New York City with 35 charter members. Their Centennial coincided with The Masters tournament where the winner walked away with a green jacket and $1,800,000. You can watch the creation of their Centennial magazine below.

5. The San Diego Zoo is celebrating 100 years. They have an awesome interactive timeline and a lot of fun animal videos all over their social media channels. And who doesn’t love that?

6. The first grocery store: Piggly Wiggly® is America’s first true self-service grocery store. Clarence Saunders founded the store in Memphis, Tennessee in 1916. Before this, customers would hand over their list and the employees of the store would gather all the items for them. Can you imagine? But why Piggly Wiggly? Saunders wanted a name that would be remembered. Mission accomplished.

Photo credit: P!NK PALACE Family of Museums

7. COPA America: For the first time ever, the United States will be hosting this international soccer (football to the rest of the world) tournament. 16 teams from the Americas will compete throughout June to see who will be victorious.

8. Migratory Bird Treaty: A treaty signed between the United States and Canada to ensure that migratory birds were no longer sold, killed or kept as pets. Many other countries have since also signed the treaty as well.

9. Keds: These shoes were first introduced by U.S. Rubber in 1916. Their new logo is “Ladies First since 1916.”

10. BMW: The German luxury automobile company Bavarian Motor Works, or BMW as it is more widely known, turned 100 on March 7, 2016. See what they’re working on for the Next 100.

So there you have it! A lot to celebrate in 2016. Any other big Centennial celebrations you know about that we didn’t list? Tell us in the comments.